Shanghai and Beijing in the midst of winter chill don’t lend themselves to comfortable exploring but they did provide some stunning backdrops. The French concession is likely one of the most verdant neighborhoods in Shanghai, lined with plane trees that seem to form a covered passageway. In the colder months, the trees lose their leafy greens and adopt a look that might be considered snow-covered. Illuminated further by a white sky, the sight was breathtaking.

{GREEN}

Philadelphia and its suburbs traffic in humidity – the unbearably cloying, soupy kind that infiltrates the skin and lingers all day – which means spending pleasant time outdoors must happen in the early morning hours. Flying west from Paris for my visits, I naturally wake up early enough, at least for the first few days, to do so and eat breakfast as the sun awakens. Every morning during our trip at the end of May, we parked ourselves on the patio at my father’s place, tucked into giant bowls of cereal, read the newspaper and enjoyed those fleeting moments of fresh, breathable air. The way the dew-covered grass beamed with light at this hour was magnificent. Hardly a noise on the street, just the morning call of a few birds and the rustling of bushes as my father’s cat stealthily hunted for nibbles.

{YELLOW}


Giverny is a magical place both for Monet fans and gardening enthusiasts but when I think of our day trip to Monet’s home two years ago,  I recall the bees that swarmed each flower bed we approached. Generally panic-inducing, I saw them for the first time as something beautiful and, more importantly, essential to our ecosystem. 

{BLUE}

For this one, I wavered between southern California blue and Helsinki blue, the latter winning out for its sheer grandeur. It represents summer, to be sure, but also purity and fresh air. It’s easy to feel stifled in Paris where green spaces are limited so it’s all the more invigorating to visit an urban environment abounding in expanses of both land and sea.

Which color stands out to you the most?